Have you ever had one of those seasons where it feels like your mind has been suddenly flooded with thoughts, concerns, and ideas, but when you consider the hours there are in a day and the limited years you have left on this earth that there just doesn’t seem to be enough time to do it all and then you feel so overwhelmed that you don’t know what to do or where to start and you get dizzy and you suddenly want to zone out to something mindless? Let me catch my breath for a minute… Ok, I’m better now, thanks. Well, that’s where I’ve been for the past few days.

After experiencing the aforementioned mess of thoughts and feelings, I finally attained the wherewithal to stop and cry out to my Heavenly Father for HELP!!!! Lord, what am I supposed to do with all this? I feel these issues filling my thoughts and emotions are all so important! I have a newfound interest in politics, economics, and ethical issues, and old-found interests in health, spiritual formation and discipline, parenting, family life, gardening, survival skills, natural childbirth, dancing, acting, writing, reading… the list goes on. I’ve been blessed with four amazing children, and want to raise them well. How, Lord, can I be a good steward with my family and not ignore all you’ve placed in my heart? “Do few things and do them well” are words I live by, but these aren’t a “few things!”

Suddenly it dawned on me (dare I say… the Lord did spaketh unto me?). Maybe some of these interests aren’t what I should devote my life to. Maybe… just maybe… I’m supposed to explore a little into each of these interests and expose my findings to spark a fire in those around me, namely my children?

My son is fascinated with germs and body function. When I took him to the ER to stitch up his little facial gash last month, he never cried once as I expected him to do. Instead, he was irresistibly drawn to everything in the examining room and interested in the procedure of how the doctors mended him. He wanted to see it all, and I took pictures for him so he could later observe what was going on. He said it was one of his favorite nights! I am enthralled with alternative medicine, and would love to take courses to further my education, but can’t find the time. Maybe Levi and I will connect on this issue and he’ll be the one to go into the profession.

Bekah, my oldest, is rather talented in the fine arts. I always wanted to go Broadway, but decided (after a quick dabbling in the entertainment department at Disneyland) that I’d rather have a family. Perhaps putting on little plays with her and drawing together will turn into more than just playtime as she matures.

Suddenly, I am understanding more about “quiver-filling.” I am referring to Psalm 127:3-5

“Behold, children are a heritage from the

LORD,

the fruit of the womb a reward.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior

are children of one’s youth.

Blessed is the man

who fills his quiver with them!

He shall not be put to shame

when he speaks with his enemies in

the gate.

Well, we currently have four children I love dearly, but I have more than four ideas and plenty of love for more, and that’s not including my husband’s interests and love. Maybe we need to have a little discussion about how many little arrows we’re meant to acquire…

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Drought weights the trees, and from the farmhouse eaves
The locust, pulse-beat of the summer day,
Throbs; and the lane, that shambles under leaves
Limp with the heat–a league of rutty way –
Is lost in dust; and sultry scents of hay
Breathe from the panting meadows heaped with sheaves.